By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

Thirty suspected Boko Haram militants were killed near Nigeria's northeastern Bama town late Saturday when the army allegedly repelled an ambush on a convoy of government officials in the insurgency-wracked region, a government official said Sunday.

Saeed Salisu, chairman of the Gwoza government of Borno State, told reporters: "We were traveling from Pulka to Maiduguri when militants attacked our convoy with improvised explosive devices and sporadic gunshots just after Ngurosoye. But the troops repelled them, killing up to 30 of the terrorists,"

The National Emergency Management Agency also confirmed the incident via a tweeted picture on Sunday, which showed some injured soldiers being attended to at the Maimalari military hospital.

Attacks on local troops have surged in the past two months, resulting in casualties on both sides. At least two lieutenant colonels and several soldiers were killed in the past few weeks during such ambushes.

Analysts blame the surge on the dry season, which improves mobility of militants, as well as lack of adequate military hardware to deal a decisive blow to the remnants of the insurgency that has raged for the past seven years.

Over two million people have been displaced while tens of thousands have been killed in the ongoing crisis in the country.